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By Morning Sentinel Staff 01/01/2008

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HUFFING IT: Dennis Huff wipes snow from his face while walking along School Street in Unity during a snowstrorm on Monday morning. "I've had enough snow already this year," Huff said. It's wicked out here- there is more snow this December than we had in the last few years."

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It's beginning to feel a lot like -- Scandinavia.

The National Weather Service's winter storm page on the Internet on Monday summed up December 2007 in central Maine: "Prepare for round number two of winter's delight."

Round one was snowfall that dumped 6-10 inches of new snow across the region on Monday.

Travel was slow, roads were slick, but it was pretty.

Round two, according to the Weather Service, is to arrive sometime after 1 p.m. today with another batch of snow.

December 2007 will go into the record books as the snowiest in more than a decade, The Associated Press reported.

But according to some highway crews around the region, the snow that fell in December has chewed up much of the resources set aside for the whole winter.

"Our sand is running low and salt -- we can't even purchase salt until the middle of January," Waterville Public Works Director Mark Turner said Monday. "In terms of overtime wages, materials, fuel, equipment and parts, we've spent 50 percent of our budget just for the month of December."

Turner said the city usually does not budget for "this type of December," and stretches the amount to cover the whole winter.

"Everybody in the state is in the same boat," he said.

According to the National Weather Service, as of Sunday, eastern Maine had received more than 34 inches of snow.

About 13 inches is considered normal in Bangor for December, and only 2.5 inches fell in the area last year.

About 25 inches is normal in December for northern Maine, but this year nearly 51 inches of snow has piled up in and around Caribou, according to Weather Service statistics. Last year, Caribou got only 8 inches of snow in December.

The Portland area, which gets about 12 inches of snow in a normal December, received more than 30 inches for the month this winter. Last winter, it got less than 3 inches.

In central Maine, Matt Quinn, an employee of the Skowhegan Highway Department, estimated 40 inches has fallen so far in December.

"Doing the math, we had three storms for about 30 inches, then it rained," Quinn said Monday. "Then we had a couple of small storms and this one looks like about 7 inches -- so, yeah, close to 40 inches."

Quinn's boss, Skowhegan Road Commissioner Gregory Dore, said his crews have been out straight -- and usually on nights and weekends -- eating up his overtime budget.

"Our sand and salt is not too bad, but my overtime is not doing so good," Dore said. "That's taking a lot out of my budget.

"I'm definitely 50 percent into my budget and we've got two months to go and March can be our snowiest month."

In Pittsfield, Town Manager Kathryn Ruth said Pittsfield's fiscal year ended Dec. 31.

"We will finish with nearly a zero balance." Ruth said. "The town slowed spending, buying only emergency items, at the beginning of November when it became apparent this would be a busy winter."

She said the highway budget has not increased for five years and that the town provides its own sand, but if it runs out it could mean cuts will have to be made in other areas.

"We're using more sand than usual," Ruth said. "If we have to purchase sand from a vendor it will get expensive.

"We do the best we can. If we have more expenses for winter we'll cut back on other items. What it will mean is a summer project does not get done."

Monday morning, the Weather Service said snow was falling at a rate of up to an inch and a half per hour over portions of eastern and east central Maine.

After an overnight break and a quiet New Year's morning, more snow is due to arrive later today.

Yet another storm was taking shape in the Midwest late Monday and will be bringing another round of wintry weather to the region, according to the Weather Service.

That snow won't get started until this afternoon and because of the potential for another moderate accumulation of snow, winter storm watches have been hoisted once again across Maine and New Hampshire.

Fair weather is forecast to follow this storm, bringing cold air and clearing skies by late Wednesday night and Thursday. After that, the region should start to see a slow warming trend by the next weekend.

Mild and relatively unsettled weather will be on the horizon Sunday into the following week, according to the Weather Service.

Doug Harlow -- 861-9244

dharlow@centralmaine.com

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